


Quintessence

by Dreamin



Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Genre: F/M, Post-Divorce, Pre-Reconciliation, past Guinan/Q
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-24
Updated: 2019-09-24
Packaged: 2020-10-27 14:36:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 981
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20761979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreamin/pseuds/Dreamin
Summary: All the power in the galaxy might not be enough to get Q's ex to fall back in love with him.





	Quintessence

**Author's Note:**

  * For [afteriwake](https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/gifts).

> Inspired by a prompt from afteriwake and a thread on Tumblr that Q and Guinan were exes.

If anyone asked (and no one did), Q would say that his frequent visits to the _Enterprise_ were simply because the crew fascinated him, Picard especially. While that was mostly the truth, he also liked to drop in occasionally to see how his ex was faring.

“A perfectly normal impulse,” he told himself when he was once again floating outside the ship. “Everyone wants to know how their former flame does without them.”

Q had the feeling Troi would tell him he was fooling no one, but he ignored that.

* * *

Riker slid into an empty seat at Ten Forward’s bar, smirking.

Guinan raised an eyebrow as she handed him his usual drink. “Something tells me you have a secret you want to share, Commander.”

He took a sip, his eyes dancing with amusement. “There’s a rumor about you making its way among the crew.”

“Is that all?” she asked, thoroughly unimpressed. “I thought you were going to tell me something I can actually sink my teeth into, like when you and Deanna are going to stop this on-again, off-again dance of yours.”

Riker waved his free hand in dismissal. “Deanna and I have plenty of time, we’re enjoying what we have now.”

Guinan smirked. “You mean you enjoy being the ship’s resident Romeo while Deanna enjoys the occasional semi-serious relationship?”

“Exactly,” he said, grinning wide.

“Right. So, what is everyone saying about me this time?”

“That today is your wedding anniversary.”

She rolled her eyes. “I have twenty-three anniversaries and I don’t celebrate most of them. How did anyone find out?”

“I’m betting Deanna’s not the only Betazoid on board. So, the rumor’s true?”

Guinan paused for a moment. The faces and names of twenty-two spouses flitted through her mind, then finally, the one husband she hated thinking about came to the fore. “Yes. I have been married twenty-three times, but I’ve only been divorced once.”

Riker raised an eyebrow. “Is that so?” he asked, giving her an anticipatory grin. “This I have to hear.”

She looked down at the tea she was drinking. “This requires something stronger.” Pouring herself a glass of Scotch, she took a sip as she contemplated exactly what and how she was going to tell her friend. “To start with, you know him.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Please tell me it’s not the Captain.”

Guinan chuckled. “No, my relationship with Jean-Luc is something else entirely.”

“Then who?”

She took another sip of her drink before answering, “Q.”

“Bullshit,” was Riker’s immediate reply.

She couldn’t help a grin as she looked down at her drink. “Oh, it’s true, despite how much I wish it wasn’t sometimes.”

“You’re telling me that you and Q were married?”

Guinan looked up at him and chuckled at Riker’s incredulous look. “For almost a century, yes. For people like us, that’s the equivalent of a couple from the 20th Century having a quickie Vegas wedding on a Friday then having it annulled the following Monday.”

“When was this?”

“Two centuries ago.”

“Did you have children with him?”

She smiled a bit. “Getting a little personal, aren’t we?”

“Can you blame me?”

“_Touché_. And no, neither of us wanted a child together. As far as I know, there are no offspring between our races.”

Riker smirked. “Too terrifying to contemplate?”

“Precisely.” She was completely serious and Riker’s eyes widening slightly confirmed that he believed her.

“Uh, right,” he said quietly. Another sip of his drink and he smiled a bit. “I have to know, has he always been such-”

“A handsome devil?” Q asked as he appeared standing next to Riker, smirking. “Commander, you flatter me.”

Riker eyed him. “I was going to say ‘a royal pain in the ass.’” He finished his drink then stood. “I’ll alert the Captain that you’re here.”

“No need,” Q said, turning his attention to Guinan. “I’m only here for her.”

“Right,” Riker muttered. “Any reunion between exes usually means fireworks, but in this case, it’s probably literal. I’ll suggest that we put the ship on red alert.” He headed for the door, tapping his com badge on the way out. “Riker to Picard…”

Q rolled his eyes as he sat down in front of Guinan. Outwardly, she was calm but inside, she had all of her walls up.

“I take it you’re behind the rumor,” she said as she took another sip of her Scotch.

“I simply put a bug in an ensign’s ear,” he said, innocence personified. “What happens after that is beyond my control.”

“Uh huh. And you wanted to remind me of our anniversary why?”

“I … miss you.”

Guinan assessed him, looking for any sign that would give away his true intentions, but found none. The hint of loneliness in his eyes was, as far as she could tell, only the tip of the iceberg. “For once, I believe you.”

Q grinned, delighted. “Excellent, I’ll make preparations for the re-marriage ceremony-”

She raised a hand, cutting him off. “I said I believed you, I didn’t say I wanted to try again.”

“But why not?” he asked, dumbfounded. “We’re perfect for each other.”

“It was a fling, Q,” she said patiently. “Nothing more.”

He muttered, “Not to me.”

Guinan gave him a small, sympathetic smile. “I know, and that’s why I decided to end it – you could never mean as much to me as I meant to you.”

“That’s … harsh,” he said quietly.

“Don’t act like this is the first time you’ve heard it.” She softened her tone. “We had a good time, Q, made some good memories, let’s just leave it at that.”

After a heartbreaking glance at her, Q disappeared without another word.

Guinan took a deep breath then downed the rest of her Scotch. _It’s easier when all he’s feeling is combative. _She didn’t know what had gotten into her ex-husband but she knew this, whatever it was, wasn’t over.


End file.
